The present day prior art roller skate usually comprises a boot and a metal hanger bracket which is riveted, or otherwise attached to the bottom surface of the sole of the boot. Front and rear trucks for the wheels are then suspended from the hanger, and these are constructed to permit limited pivotal movement of the wheels about the longitudinal axis of the hanger, so as to allow the skater to execute turns and other exercises.
The prior art skates of the type described above are relatively complex, and they involve a relatively large number of mechanical assembly operations during this construction, all of which add materially to the cost of the end product.
In one embodiment of the present invention to be described, the hanger bracket is preferably composed of an appropriate plastic material, such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), or polycarbonate, and the trucks are preferably composed of a suitable high strength plastic, such as polycarbonate or nylon.
In another embodiment of the invention, also to be described, the hanger bracket is formed integral with the sole of the boot as a unitary plastic member. This latter construction further reduces the expense and complexity of the skate fabrication, and enables the boot, sole and hanger to be manufactured as a single unit, and the only action required is to snap in the truck axle housings to complete the construction of the skate.
All the complex mechanical manufacturing procedures of the prior art skates are eliminated in the construction of the assembly of the present invention, by providing for the trucks to be coupled to the hanger by a snap-action relationship with requires merely hand pressure to attach the trucks to the hanger.
The resulting combination of the present invention is a roller skate assembly which has all the strength and features of the prior art assemblies, and yet which may be manufactured and sold at a fraction of their cost.